My Bed design

[trimster]

Between rain and snow storms built the arm that will hold the winch. It folds up small enough to fit into the smaller under-bed bin. Once I decide on the winch model and get it in hand, the mounting plate will be welded to the top and the whole unit will be sent off for powder coating.

 

 

The weather broke and the bed liner rolled-on the side rails. Like this brand. It can be sprayed or rolled on. Took less than a qrt to do 2 coats on the rails all around.

Today the deck plate gets a coat of acid etch primer...if the winds don't come up.

[trimster]

Deck plate has two coats of Durabak-18 in dark gray. First time trying this brand. Used Herculiner on the last truck and liked it. Durabak is very similar to that brand but does not cover as well. 2 coats and still has thin spots. Fortunately I got 2 gallons, and have 3/4 gal left, which is enough for a third coat.

This Durabak dries really slowly. Raptor (2 part system) flashes at 60 min, dry to the touch. Raptor does not have any grit in it (although you can add some), producing a nice textured finish. I would imagine it might be slick if wet or snow covered.

Durabak has texture and grit... so good non-skid properties.

Also decided to put a 50' air-hose reel in one of the rear storage boxes. Now need to run an air line from the air tanks up front.  Anyone see issues with running rubber or synthetic air hose from the air tanks back?

...and so it goes. Just a bit closer to done

[rickeieio]

14 minutes ago, trimster said:

Anyone see issues with running rubber or synthetic air hose from the air tanks back?

Shoot'n from the hip.....if plastic and rubber are good enough for brakes, they oughta be fine.  Consider adding a small tank back there too, if you have room.

[trimster]

4 minutes ago, rickeieio said:

Shoot'n from the hip.....if plastic and rubber are good enough for brakes, they oughta be fine.  Consider adding a small tank back there too, if you have room.

Additional tank... good idea. I should be able to find a used one at the semi junk yard north of here. I've got room.

Anyone who has tapped into the VNL air tanks remember the adapters you used to get from the hole in the tank to a hose-friendly fitting?

Edited March 20, 2021 by trimster

[rickeieio]

I'm gleaning this thread for ideas to use on our next bed.  Like'n it so far.

[rpsinc]

24 minutes ago, trimster said:

Deck plate has two coats of Durabak-18 in dark gray

Did you roll it?  Looks like it from the pan & roller.  I have used Xtreme Liner many times but have never rolled it.  I spray it on with a HF drywall texture gun.  Works good.  They supply "crumb" for the texture in the product.  Sometimes I use it sometimes I dont.  Depends on what I am doing with it.  Also, they offer many colors.  Its 2 part, so it holds up pretty well.

[trimster]

1 minute ago, rickeieio said:

I'm gleaning this thread for ideas to use on our next bed.  Like'n it so far.

Any other/more information I can provide, please ask. I have not covered lots of little things here. Some are specific to this build but maybe helpful.

 

[trimster]

3 minutes ago, rpsinc said:

Did you roll it?  Looks like it from the pan & roller.  I have used Xtreme Liner many times but have never rolled it.  I spray it on with a HF drywall texture gun.  Works good.  They supply "crumb" for the texture in the product.  Sometimes I use it sometimes I dont.  Depends on what I am doing with it.  Also, they offer many colors.  Its 2 part, so it holds up pretty well.

Rolled both. Don't have the compressor ability to drive the air gun to shoot it. Rolled-on okay. The roller they include isn't the best. It worked better with the Raptor brand.

Edited March 20, 2021 by trimster

[Darryl&Rita]

15 minutes ago, trimster said:

Anyone who has tapped into the VNL air tanks remember the adapters you used to get from the hole in the tank to a hose-friendly fitting?

There should be a couple spare 1/2" NPT ports with plugs installed. Make sure to tie into the right tank.

[trimster]

Just now, Darryl&Rita said:

There should be a couple spare 1/2" NPT ports with plugs installed. Make sure to tie into the right tank.

"Make sure to tie into the right tank"... but my tanks are on the left side.  Sorry, could not resist.

I'm assuming the three under the drivers side are for overall system air? or is there specific duties for one or more of them? There's another tank closer to the drives. I'm assuming that is for the parking brake?

[Steve from SoCal]

The type of hose you use is your choice, on ANY air line to an accessory put a ball valve at the tank to shut off the supply when not in use.     If the valve is in a awkward location make an extension handle to an easy access point.    

I thought about a hose reel for my truck, decided the space it took up was too valuable and just coil up a hose.

 

Steve

[Sculptor]

6 hours ago, trimster said:

Any other/more information I can provide, please ask. I have not covered lots of little things here. Some are specific to this build but maybe helpful.

 

How much do you charge?  😂 

Just kidding, but wow what a nice job you have done!

[Darryl&Rita]

5 hours ago, trimster said:

"Make sure to tie into the right tank"... but my tanks are on the left side.  Sorry, could not resist.

I'm assuming the three under the drivers side are for overall system air? or is there specific duties for one or more of them? There's another tank closer to the drives. I'm assuming that is for the parking brake?

Off the compressor is the "Wet tank", then the primary and secondary tanks. This picture refers to them as secondary and service. Follow the lines to see what each tank supplies, then decide. I'd come off the wet tank, myself. Some trucks only have 2 apparent tanks, with the second tank seperated internally.

[noteven]

On a AD-IS system if there is a kinda like "pancake" tank on the air dryer that is the "wet" tank. 

[Jack Mayer]

You will want to tap the wet tank. As someone said, put a valve at the tank in case you have issues. I'd use 1/2" DOT airline, but that is just me. Hose will work but it won't be as good and likely will cost more, unless you have some sitting around.

You will like the Raptor - that is what we use on our beds after trying most of the other brands.

You are finding out what we face daily - Massive price increases in steel and other components. We try to keep our prices under control, but it is difficult with things going up so fast.

[trimster]

10 hours ago, Jack Mayer said:

You will want to tap the wet tank. As someone said, put a valve at the tank in case you have issues. I'd use 1/2" DOT airline, but that is just me. Hose will work but it won't be as good and likely will cost more, unless you have some sitting around.

You will like the Raptor - that is what we use on our beds after trying most of the other brands.

You are finding out what we face daily - Massive price increases in steel and other components. We try to keep our prices under control, but it is difficult with things going up so fast.

Thanks Jack. I've been able to keep material costs down a bit by finding rems. Of course self-building kept the budget under control. But still, it's an ouch.

 

[essarebee]

I've followed your build thread since the beginning.  I just joined the forum to say that pictures are time-consuming to post, but are very much appreciated!  You might be shocked by the number of folks who follow your build.

[trimster]

Someone asked what the basic sub-frame for the bed looked like. Here's a photo I forgot to post. The 6" C-channel  bolts to the truck frame in several places. Where the original commercial hitch mounted, and some custom brackets that use exiting frame bolt holes to tie into.

This shot was taken when I had planned on making the end of the bed 'beaver tailed'. I added segments of channel to the end creating a flat bed all the way back.

Although this photo was taken in Jan, it seems like ages ago. Time flies when you are having fun.

[trimster]

Deck is now ready for the tread-plate install. Tomorrow the teenage grand kids are drilling and tapping 80+ screw holes. This should be entertaining.

Today we put on 1/16" x 1.5" rubber gasket material. Some Super-77 holds it in place nicely. Older grandson is walking the steel like a pro. Kids have a good sense of balance. I'd need someone to call 911 of I tried.

The two larger deck plates will have several surface mount d-rings to strap stuff down. Trying to figure out the best placement. I have 10 mounts to distribute over the deck. 4 will be assigned to the wheel-baskets for the Smart Car. Can't really place those until we get the car and put it on the deck.

The generator arrived and that went to the fabricator. He's building the box and rollout drawer around the generator.

Friday the underbed boxes get a final fit. We ran into fit issues yesterday at the first fitting. I did not make the first 2 cross ribs exactly square to each other.... off by under 1/4" end to end (101"). Way off by my standards. So the fabricator is making some changes to adapt the box to the space. My bad.

[rickeieio]

Bob,  I'm so glad I'm watching your build.  We just happen to have a couple of small generators on the farm, one being a Yamaha 3000i w/ electric start.  Perfect......

[trimster]

I would have preferred a diesel genset but cost & size ruled that out. There will be an aux fuel cell [5-7 gal) above the generator box. That should give it 24 hrs of runtime. 

[trimster]

Made good progress and it looks like a real flatbed. Fancy that. And with the help of the 2 grandsons.... the deckplate install went fairly fast. Better yet, no broken drill bits or taps. That in itself is amazing.

Pulled out the tape and it's 64' long.

Monday the fabricator does a final test fit on the boxes.

I've been concerned that the pinbox and the deck frame clearance when doing off camber transitions. Did some fairly radical ones today and no deck-to-pinbox collisions. I'm going to mount a little action camera back there and record what's going on.

[dblr]

Looking great and I bet it's nice having your grandson's help, plus think of all the on the job training they are receiving. 

[noteven]

I saw a company somewhere on the internet that sells a key fob remote shutdown for portable generators. 

I think that could be convenient.

[Hot Rod]

Kinda curious on the choice of aluminum deckplate...  why not steel?  Weight is not an issue tandem, and you could have simply welded it down and saved a lot of work, and you are covering in bedliner anyway.